Juan Paulo Fermin, now a pilot on Philippine Airlines (PAL), was just 8 years old when his parents went to Bermuda to work. While they would come home from time to time, he has spent the last 17 Christmases without his parents by his side. [He miscounted on his Facebook post, first saying it was 16 years.]

Because many of our lifelong dreams are inspired or influenced by something that happened in our lives as kids, Juan Paulo dreamed of becoming a pilot and flying his parents back home to the Philippines to celebrate Christmas together.

It was a dream that would take many years to finally come true but he saw the perfect opportunity when he became a pilot for PAL last March. At around the same time, his parents made plans to come home for the holidays.

Photo credit: Juan Paulo Fermin / Facebook

From Bermuda, they were to fly to New York and catch a flight to Vancouver before flying the last leg to the Philippines.

Checking his parents’ flight details, he learned that a friend was on the flight crew from Vancouver to the Philippines. It was the perfect schedule! He asked permission from his superiors who were more than willing to accommodate his heartwarming request.

In a now viral Facebook post, Juan Paulo shared the video of their surprise reunion as the plane was cruising up in the sky on its way to the Philippines.

Photo credit: Juan Paulo Fermin / Facebook

Bringing a bouquet of roses, Juan Paulo walked out of the cockpit to surprise his parents. The moment she saw her son, Mommy Pureza took off her headphones, jumped out of her seat, and exclaimed, “Anak!”

Her reaction was truly worth the months of planning for this beautiful surprise. The next moments were pure joy as the overwhelmed mom cried tears of joy over her son’s lovely surprise; Juan Paulo admitted he didn’t cry in the video but was trying his best to hold back the tears.

It was truly heartwarming that this young pilot was able to fly his parents back home and surprise them thousands of feet above the ground! Watch the heartwarming video here: